Cameroon Interbank Agency is seeking collaboration with Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) of Nigeria, in the area of cloud computing offering that will benefit the agency.

The Managing Director of Cameroon’s Interbank Agency, Mr. Valentin Mbozo’o, recently led a delegation of the agency on a working visit to the corporate head office of Computer Warehouse Group in Lagos, to appraise CWG’s cloud offerings and identify areas of potential collaboration between both firms.

In his welcome remarks, the Chief Technology Officer, CWG, Mr. James Agada, explained that CWG has garnered a rich history of offering business enabling Information Technology (IT) solutions to the finance industry in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to him, “CWG has rolled out a plethora of innovation products and excellent support services to financial institutions in Nigeria that has improved their customers’ experience and expanded the business scope.”

CWG in partnership with First Bank of Nigeria, powered Firstmonie, an innovative product that enables customers to access financial and other value added services offered through their mobile phones and we have recently followed up with Diamond Yello account in conjunction with Diamond bank and MTN.

We have also deployed the Finacle banking application to leading banks to enhance their operations, Agada said.

He added that CWG deployed about a third of the aggregate ATMs in the country and support quite a number as at present.” “Today, the visit by the Cameroon Interbank Agency bears the possibility of replicating this history in Cameroon and Francophone Africa”, Agada said.

The visit presents a unique opportunity for the agency to partner CWG in her bid to extend her scope of operations and service delivery, Mbozo’o said.

According to him, “Our objective, named vision 2017, is to introduce a unique payment card that will be adopted in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) countries by 2017.

This will enable us have a functional regulatory financial ecosystem in the entire region in the nearest future.”

“We have seen that CWG has the technical expertise and the credibility to help actualize our vision and we are willing to partner them to make this vision a reality,” Mbozo’o added.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CWG, Mr. Austin Okere, observed that growing the agency's transaction base to include the unbanked and underbanked population is a precursor for a successful actualization of her vision and that CWG has the capacity to boost the transaction base geometrically through financial inclusion and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) empowerment.

According to Mr. Okere, “We have rolled out a number of solutions that address the issue of financial inclusion.

FINEDGE is designed to give Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) sustainability and mechanisms for control. With it they can automate their services and serve the SMEs community effectively.

Diamond Yello account has brought banking to the door step of everyone capable of operating a mobile phone. We introduced SMERP, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution that allows SMEs keep their inventory and track sales.

Another is Openshopen, an e-commerce platform that will help them boost their visibility and improve sales. With these, not only will the SMEs be able to secure loans and increase profitability but MFIs will feel safe to grant them these loans.”

“In all we have created a technology platform in the cloud where the various players in the economy transact using technology. And, we believe that the delegate from Cameroon will leverage on the unique opportunities we offer through these solutions to actualise their vision”, Okere noted.